Lehigh Holds Off Towson St. To Capture Ecc Championship

March 09, 1988|by COULT AUBREY, The Morning Call

If it's true that things accomplished with difficulty are the most enjoyable, Lehigh certainly will enjoy the East Coast Conference men's basketball championship it won last night before a record crowd of 4,271 in Towson Center.

The Engineers, who ran off to an 11-0 lead by hitting their first five shots, had to fight for their collective lives in the second half before seniors Bill Russell, Daren Queenan and Mike Polaha made a series of big plays that eventually produced an 84-78 victory that put them into the NCAA tournament for the second time in four years.

Towson State, the No. 7 seed which knocked off Drexel and Rider en route to its second consecutive appearance in the title game, fought back from several 16-point deficits to tie the game three times, the last at 66 with 5:57 to play.

That, however, was the end for the Tigers because Scott Layer hit a three- point field goal to return the lead to Lehigh, and the senior contingent took command.

Queenan and Polaha accounted for 17 of the last 20 points down the stretch, but had it not been for three big plays by Russell - and a backcourt steal by Polaha - they might have been wasted.

The 6-7 Russell made two defensive plays under the Towson basket and fed Queenan for an easy layup as the Engineers jumped away from a narrow 71-70 lead to 77-70. The four points in between belonged to Polaha, who for the second time in his career was named the tournament's most valuable player.

"I expected them to come back," Polaha said of Towson's second-half rally from a 43-30 halftime deficit. "This was a championship game.

"I give them credit because they came after us with a tough man defense. They have excellent guards who are good athletes, but we fought off their run. We played good defense when we had to. We realized the game was on the line."

Certainly that is no understatement. Although Lehigh set a tournament record by making 29 field goals on only 43 shots (67.4 percent), the Tigers kept creating turnovers and pecking away at the lead until, with 4:11 remaining, Dwayne Martin hit a short jumper to make it 71-70, Lehigh.

That's where Russell, who is one of the Engineers' top defensive players, made his presence felt to help save Lehigh from potential defeat.

His first defensive play at the Towson end of the court led to Polaha being fouled by Marty Johnson, and the former Allentown Central Catholic star converted twice to make it 73-70.

Then, on Towson's next trip upcourt, Russell again came away with the ball to set up Polaha's drive along the right baseline for a layup, his first field goal in 12 minutes and 3 seconds.

"Yeah, I didn't get many opportunities," Polaha said of his long drought, but he still managed to score 24 points and hand out six assists to go with two steals. "It was just as important that I play smart.

"I feel great that we won it for myself and my family. It means the world to me. I'm happy for the entire Lehigh Valley."

The large contingent of Lehigh fans started its celebration with 1:15 to go when Polaha made his steal, got the ball to Layer, took a return pass and whipped it to Queenan for the layup that virtually clinched its 21st victory in 30 games.

Much earlier, however, it was no contest. Queenan, who passed both Wayman Tinsdale and David Robinson by scoring 37 points, got his first points off a stuff shot and shot 13 for 21 overall. Queenan had 16 and Polaha 14 at halftime, matching the entire Towson State total.

It didn't remain a runaway verylong. Sparked by Tommy Jones, Johnson and Michael Fink, the Tigers dominated the boards and in less than five minutes had the deficit cut to four at 50-46. They pulled into a tie for the first time when Everett Cooper hit a rebound basket, and they tied again for the final time at 66 when Jones (19 points, five assists) hit from the right baseline and added the accompanying foul shot.

That's when Lehigh Coach Fran McCaffery called a time out to settle his team down and get them back to playing defense.

"I thought we were letting them take the game to us. We were standing waiting for them to miss, but you don't do that. You MAKE them miss.

"They played very intensely, and we had to pick up our defensive intensity and did."

They did indeed. Just in time to avert disaster and win another trip to the NCAA tournament.